Twin Terror: Nathan Ryo
by Geia Akyama
Summary: After the disaster of his 11th birthday Nathan is forced to live as an outlaw of Itex in Canada. As a survivor of the Outbound Project he is one of the few w/o a death day, that and his abilities and genes make him valuable. how long can freedom last?
1. The Second Half

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 1-The second Half

--

Hey there! You have a moment? I don't have much time before I have to move again but, at risk of sounding like some after school special, I need your help. I need to tell you something important, very important, there's no single word in the English to describe how devastatingly, and totally important this is. Wha? The wings? Oh, um, that's what I want to talk to you about. You see I wasn't born like this, not really. Well, the wings weren't visible I'll say that. No don't worry! I'm harmless trust me. I'm the last person to draw blood, and the first person to negotiate. You seem like a nice enough person; I could swear I've seen you before somewhere. I never forget a face.

My name is Nathan Ryo. I'm thirteen and until I was eight I lived a normal life like you, your friends, and that drunken pan-handler across the street. I had a mother who loved me, a girlfriend, a nice warm bed, three square meals a day and my brother. But it was all ripped away from me almost six months before my tenth birthday. Please just sit and listen, they could show up at any moment!

Who? More of a what really. Erasers, wolf-human hybrids that make Frankenstein look like a beauty pageant winner. Werewolves in other words, horribly real ones.

I've literally just flown in from Canada to find my brother who claims to know about why we're so different, but I have this creeping suspicion that something's about to go terribly wrong, like King Kong wrong. Have patience and sit tight. I'm about to send you on a ride you'll never forget.

This is my story, this is my life. I don't remember much before turning eight but who does remember it all? All right then, here we go...


	2. Dreams of the Future

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 2-Dreams of the Future

--

I guess it all started before I was born, back in a place called the Institute of Living Science in New York, New York. I didn't find this out until way later that a bunch of seriously evil scientists messed with my genes and made me a bird-human hybrid. What does that mean to you? Well it means I have wings and can fly for starters. That's only the beginnings of my abilities, I have dreams that nearly always come true and I can deal out some serious elemental damage like the Organization from Kingdom Hearts II.

As early as I can remember my family has always been on the move. We never stayed in one town for more than a year and mother forbid us to bring friends home. She said that my dad had convicted a gang member in Chicago and that the rest of that gang had killed him and was now looking for us. That kind of thing has a way of making you behave at the age of six. When you're six you believe everything you're told, especially when your parents tell it to you. Why would they lie?

This will sound strange but me and my brother didn't have any friends we really knew. It was like having an enlisted person in the family and having to move constantly from base to base and have to start all over from scratch. That's what we did, my mom, brother and I. For eight years we moved from one town to another, never spending more than a year and a half in any one place, always running from some nameless fear.

Mom got Luke and me bank accounts with Bank of America back when we lived in Tampa, Florida and she even managed to get me medical coverage from SSI while we were in Julian, California. SSI stands for Social Security Income. For those of you who don't know what that means, in essence I got money because I couldn't see well and Mom didn't make enough money to support us.

I was born with this birth defect called Septo-Optic Dysplasia. For me that meant no light perception-can't see the light, no sight-in my left eye and 20/80 vision in the right eye. With only one working eye I had no depth perception as you know it. To be able to see where a ball is going to land and catch it mid-air, to see how far you are from a fence before you make a turn, to know you can hit a baseball with a bat every time. Everything you take for granted in every day life I had to work at and I still ran into walls and people because I couldn't see them.

But you know, when one door closes another opens. Since I couldn't see well my hearing was excellent. Almost creepy my girlfriend said once. But rather than me just yak at you how 'bout I tell you a story that would put Hollywood to shame? Things started getting really weird after my eighth birthday, that's when the dreams started, so that's where I'll start.

--  
Five kids, three boys and two girls, sat on a well-worn wooden bench outside a pie shop with a sign that read "Mom's." The sigh was off white and burgundy with a little heart shape in the center of the 'o'. The kids were talking and eating pie while tourists and residents strolled past, oblivious to everyone around them.

--

If you ever get to go to Julian and eat at Mom's Pie shop I suggest that you get a slice or five of hot Strawberry-Rhubarb pie and put some cinnamon ice cream on top. It's really good and you can't get cinnamon ice cream anywhere else! Believe me I know, I've been all around the country looking for it. Eeee! Sorry, that was OOC! Forget you heard that 'k?

The kids were all between the ages of six and nine with the oldest being a tall boy with black hair, black skin, and amber colored eyes. Looking at this group of friends you'd think they didn't have a care in the world, much less that two of them were something slightly less than completely human.

Two of the boys looked perfectly identical with short, red hair, blue-green eyes and both being unusually tall and thin for their age. The most obvious difference between the two of them, other than the clothes they wore, was that one wore a pair of Happy Potter-like glasses and the other didn't.

The twin with the glasses was wearing a black shirt with the Linkin Park Reanimation logo across the front, a pair of faded black pants, grey socks and dirt caked running shoes. The other had a similar outfit but with a shirt that read: I've turned to the dark side. Don't worry, I brought a flashlight.

The younger of the two girls, Mona age six, was wearing a daisy yellow sun dress with little pink roses embroidered all over it and matching flip-flops, plus little gold ribbons that held her blond pigtails in place. Her eyes were dark blue and freckles were splashed across her face and all down her arms.

The older girl, Ellen age seven, wore a short sleeved dress that had different shades of orange at the neckline that gradually changed to yellow that brought to mind a sunset on the beach and plain white sandals. Her eyes were almost black and her skin was equally dark, just like her brother Jesus.

Jesus, that's said Hey-zuse not gee-zus, looked down the bench at the other kids as the sun began to creep across the street and bounce off a restaurant that advertised a Sarsaparilla Fountain. He was wearing a dirty white, threadbare shirt under a denim jacket and baggy pangs with a silver chain hanging from one pocket. He was the oldest kid there and like a big brother to all us younger kids.

"Nathan that's, like, your fifth slice of pie..."

Ellen looked up from her half-eaten slice of pie and glanced at the only kid who was wearing glasses. She was overly concerned about how other people saw her and did everything in her power not to be embarrassed by her friends. And the nerdy looking twin was her favorite target. It's just the way she didn't quite know why but something about him was just strange. He didn't even try to not eat like a pig, even though Luke had eaten the same amount of slices he at least was using his manners.

"I'm hungry."

"Slow down. My mom says if you eat too much you'll pop like a balloon."

Good old Ellen, Little Miss Bossy.

"Take it easy on him Elly; he's way to skinny as it is."

Luke finished his slice of pie and wiped his mouth on a sleeve, leaving a smear of pink strawberry pie filling. The sun was getting closer to the horizon and the air was starting to get cold enough to raise goose bumps on people's arms. Most of the residents and visitors were heading home where it was nice and warm.

Jesus looked at his digital watch for a moment and looked down the street towards town hall.

"My uncle said he'd pick us all up after six..."

Jesus' uncle worked for a professional house painting company and didn't get off until  
after 6PM. He had a company van that could hold all five kids plus one other adult. Today he'd agreed to pick up his nephew and niece plus their friends and drop everyone off at home. His uncle's name was Benjamin but everyone just called him Bill.

A large white van with "McGraw's Painting Service" scrawled on the sides rolled carefully around the corner Jesus had been watching and rolled to a gentle stop in front the friends. An older man with a striking resemblance to Ellen and Jesus leaned over the clutch and pushed the passenger door open.

"Someone call for a golden chariot?"

A smile brightened the old man's face as the children hopped up and tossed their plates into a near by trashcan. They were good kids, all of them, even that little trouble-maker Luke. Ben flicked the radio on as Luke, Mona, Ellen, Nathan, and Jesus climbed into the back of the van and put their seatbelts on. They were on their way!

The first stop was just outside of Julian where Mona lived. It was a two story blue house, complete with horse pasture, stables and digital cable that had belonged to her family for at least four generations.

"Thanks Mr. Scales! I had fun!"

Mona hopped on her heels and waved frantically as the van drove off to its next destination. The radio played different tunes as the van bumped down the road towards the next stop near those Girl Scout camps, Luke and Nathan's house. The songs were hardly noticed by the vans occupants. Their conversation was far more interesting than the music anyway.

"Luke, why won't your mom let anyone over? It's not like we'd tear the place apart. You, me and Kendra make a great paintball team!" Jesus leaned forward in his seat next to Ellen to get a clear view of his friend.

"I don't know. She says it's because we rent the house instead of owning it."

"Or maybe she's afraid you'd embarrass her like you did in Oklahoma."

Luke shot his brother a nasty look and Nathan only snickered and dodged the tossed lint ball.

Back when we lived in Oklahoma Mom would have friends from work over to help her take care of us since she was hardly home because of her two jobs. One friend had kids of her own so sometimes we'd have playmates. Well, one time Mom came home to find that Luke had taught his little friend how to pick a lock and all her nice jewelry had been flung across her bedroom. Very messy and hard to explain to both parents... XX; He was grounded for a month.

That little comment piqued Ellen's interest.

"What happened in Oklahoma?"

"Nothing! Something stupid..."

Luke looked away and said nothing else. Mom chewed him out really good after that and she didn't even put her hand on him. Ever since he's been a lot quieter about all the things he could do, but he couldn't hide the fact that he's somehow set the couch on fire last week. He didn't even have a match or a lighter and he set the thing a-flame!

"That's it? Your brother says something and you aren't even going to tell me what it means?"

"Nope. And you're not my mom!"

Benjamin guided the van down the bumpy dirt road that could be considered a driveway to Casa de Ryo. Trees, shrubs and a low stone wall lined the road further deepening the shadows caused by the setting sun. A modest two story, yellow house came into view as the headlights came to orient on it. The front porch was raised above the ground and a small herb garden took up one side of the front yard and was surrounded with chicken wire to keep the rabbits out.

To the side of the house was Mom's little pre-owned 2000 Ford F150 with matching camper top. There was no garage so any one who came over had to find an unoccupied patch of dirt. Some advice. Don't jump from the cab of a F150 till your at least 10, Ford Trucks are tall, nearly broke something the first time I tried.

Ben rolled to a stop just as a rather pretty red haired woman in a green house dress, apron and fuzzy white slippers hurried out the front door.

"Mr. Scales I can't thank you enough for bring my boys home! I just couldn't get away from work fast enough to get to Julian, make dinner and make sure they got to bed in time for school tomorrow."

"My pleasure Leyane! You can thank me later by making that chic pea recipe you brought to the school pot luck that one time. I just can't get my wife to make it right."

Both adults laughed as the twins climbed out of the van and stretched their legs.

"Luke, Nathan. I've almost got dinner finished. Go inside, get washed up and come downstairs. I've made Tortilla Soup tonight with ambrosia."

The two boys walked into the house. Not that they were really all that dirty apart from the pie smears on their lips but you didn't argue with Mom. As they walked upstairs to the bathroom Nathan stopped and looked over his right shoulder at Luke.

"I had one of those dreams again. You know the kind that comes true?"

Luke looked interested though he would never admit it. He tried to be so tough like that even at the tender age of eight.

"You mean like the time that you said that you knew that those photographers would use the picture of Kendra's dog getting a vaccination in the newspaper and they did? Like that?"

About a month ago Kendra, Luke's friend, had taken her little Jack Russell to the vet in Ramona and some people from the local newspaper showed up and took some pictures of a couple of people and their dogs.

It's kind of strange actually. I don't know if I predict the future or if my belief makes the future what I say it should be but when I say I know something will happen it pretty much happened. If I KNEW I had a 75 chance of getting it right. If thought something would happen it was a 50-50 chance of getting it right. If I hoped for something to happen I had a one in four chance. Creepy huh?

"Not like that, not really. I had a dream and a feeling that it could be true. Like when I say I know something will happen. I dreamed of flying, both of us were flying. Not in a plane or with hang gliders, I mean we had wings. Mine were white like a cloud and yours were jet black. And what was so strange is that it felt so totally real. There was wind and the ground looked so far away below us. It'd be great to fly like that! I only wish it were true."

Luke grunted. Dreams and things he couldn't get his hands into were boring to him.

"And the feeling?"

Nathan smiled and continued to the bathroom. There was a hint of wonder permeating his voice, a voice so similar to his brothers that the sudden change was instantly noticeable.

"It feels like something big is about to happen, Luke. I don't know what it is or if it's good or bad, but it's big."

The two boys passed their separate bedrooms and walked into the big bathroom upstairs. It had a tub, its own closet, a sink big enough to bathe a baby in and all the other stuff bathrooms have; only it looked a lot nicer and expensive at the same time.

"How big?"

Nathan walked up to the marble sink and turned the stainless steel faucet to warm to wash his hands.

"It feels like it could change our lives. And it's close, really close."

--

My brother and I always had sharper senses than everyone else although he can still see much better than me. We can see for miles, I could tell you the color, shape, and what color the words were on a sign in Ramona on a clear day. Luke can too only he can tell you what the sight says, how many birds are sitting on the sign and what color their eyes are. Not only that but we could see pretty well in the dark, again Luke was better at it than me, and our hearing is amazing but more on that later.

--

Nathan scooted over so Luke could reach the little bottle of Soft-soap on the counter and wash his hands at the same time. For a moment or two the boys stood in silence as the sound of the white van receded and the front door opened and closed with a bang. They heard their mom hurry into the kitchen and hastily stir the big pot of soup with one of the metal serving spoons, or perhaps the ladle?

Nathan smiled and tried to stay quiet but it was just too much! He'd held his peace ever since Friday and he was about to burst and tell everyone! He couldn't tell his mother, she'd probably flip and see if he was catching a cold. He couldn't tell anyone at school, they would think he was making everything up just to get some attention, not to mention what the teachers would say. He had to tell Luke, They shared enough secrets anyway.

He took the sea green hand towel from its rack on the wall and dried his hands before handing it to Luke.

"I almost can't stand the wait it's so close! It is starting to hurt like the pain of peeling a scab. It hurts so much when you peel if back, no matter how slow you go, but Oh! Once you get it off it feels so good!"

Luke put the towel back on it's rack while Nathan hopped on his heels just like Mona had when she'd waved to them in the from her front yard. Luke barely glanced at his brother or his antics as they walked out of the bathroom. Nathan obviously wasn't done talking.

"Anything else from the feeling?"

Luke tried to look bored but it was obvious that he was intrigued.

"Soon. It'll happen in the next few days. I KNOW it will!"

With that both boys stopped talking and entered the kitchen. Little did they know that both Nathan's dream, and the strange feeling he had would be coming to life, soon.


	3. School, the Normal Kind

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 3-School, the normal kind

--

The next week was typical for the third grade at Stellar Elementary School in Julian. Math, spelling, learning the rules of English-no wonder most countries have a problem learning it correctly! It's hard enough with it as your first language!-and all that stuff the teachers pound into your head. My personal favorites were math, the classes that talked about the stars and planets, and recess. Loved recess, you know that adults are trying to get rid of it now? Really sad, Kids need the break. You got to be outside and have fun and the teachers couldn't tell you no.

--

It was the Monday before Halloween and the PTA had already marked off the hallway that would be used for the haunted house at the Festival held on campus that very night, but school went on like it was nothing But everyone knew better! The sky was cloudless; a brilliant blue for fall, and the sun was bright. A perfect day to relax and enjoy the beauty of nature rather than to be inside at a desk studying.

A tall and rather skinny boy with glasses raced across the black asphalt upper field to the jungle gym and the Game leader there. Game leaders were always older kids with blue hats and a little cardboard slab with green paper stapled to it. Their job was to watch the little kids, first through fourth grade, and make sure they didn't get hurt.

Second and first graders weren't allowed into the lower dirt field where the big kids played soft ball and baseball. And as a third grader the red haired boy could go there, not that he wanted to go. Nathan had to be careful with contact sports, and small, hard, fast-moving things. Being half blind he had to protect what little vision was left to him because the glasses were not going to stop a softball from breaking his nose and losing an eye. And the chance of losing the one eye with light perception was far too high to allow him to be reckless.

Thomas looked up from his little makeshift clipboard and smiled. His skin was really dark and matched his black hair and eyes. Some kids say he's a, well it's not a good word but I think you know the word I mean. But he was cool. He was in the fourth grade and he looked out for the kids in the Visually Impaired program like me. Maybe because his little sister in the first grade was just like I was back then.

"Hey Nate. Glad to see you again. Emily said that little math trick you showed her is really helping"

Emily was a cute little black girl with long hair put up in pigtails and buckteeth. We both went to see Mrs. Walsh after lunch with the other VI kids in a special classroom. There was a Braille printer and lots of other stuff like large print books and even a reading board to put your book on. But Nathan's favorite thing in that class was the CCTV or Close Circuit Television; it made the print in any book big enough for a person with less than perfect vision to read.

"No problem. It's so easy I think she would have found it sooner or later."

"I donno Nate. You're pretty smart for a third grader."

Nate knew boys were supposed to be tough and all but he can't help it if he got a warm fuzzy feeling from a compliment, and it went straight to his face every single time. And as you can bet the bullies in the school found that funny as hell and used it mercilessly while teasing.

Nathan or Nate as his friends called him, scrambled through the jungle gym like a monkey and climbed to the top. It wasn't the tallest jungle gym, but it was still good. He perched on top with another kid who was a bit on the chubby side with sun burnt skin, blond hair and blue eyes. The sun was so bright that both kids had to squint. The drawbacks of having the most sensitive colored eyes, even if Nathan's had a little green in them.

He watched the older kids, including his twin brother Luke, playing softball until boredom and the irritation of sitting on an unmerciful metal bar encouraged him to get down. Carefully he snaked his way to the ground with only the sound of the stainless-steel Medic alert bracelet he wore to mark his passage.

It was almost lunch time. There were so many kids in school that the teachers had to make the kids eat lunch in shifts, and Nathan's class was one of many that had lunch after playing.

Nathan pushed his glasses up to the top of his nose and walked away from the jungle gym, sandbox and swings. The other thing he liked to do during recess was play tetherball. He was pretty good too, being tall for his age really helped with that. As the other games leaders organized their assigned games and equipment Nathan absently ticked off each game in his mind. Hula hoops, jump ropes, wall ball, four squares and all those other games with the half inflated balls that the school district favored. There was even an area set aside for playing hopscotch and around the world.

The boy was halfway to the tetherball courts when he saw a group of bullies gathered around someone. One of them was holding a little golden necklace while the others were taunting a little black girl in a pale green shirt with matching skirt and pink tennis shoes.

Even young as Nathan was he knew the difference between doing something bad for a bad reason and doing something bad for the right reason. And this was a good time to break a school rule if he had to, because that girl was Emily and her sight was worse than his.

With anger and resentment hot in his chest and throat, making Nathan grind his teeth together and ball his long fingered hands into fists, he ran to where Emily had been cornered by her tormentors.

"What a dweeb! Where's you little bottle? Is the baby gonna cry for us?"

They cackled at their own joke and laughed even harder when Emily started wailing in distress.

Nathan REALLY hated those boys, they were all in the fifth grade, except for Nicholas Cage who was in the fourth, and they made it their life's mission to keep other people miserable. And poor little Emily was their target that day. The other bullies added their cruel comments things Nathan had heard often said of him, and one more special to Emily because of her skin color.

Cory, the head bully and the nastiest of the bunch with the racial slur, turned around in time to see their second favorite target running up. Well, there went the element of surprise...

"Hey lookie here! Little Nathan! Here to save your little girlfriend you ...-lover."

That word again. Cory really needed to stop using it. And for the record Emily was a friend of the elder Ryo twin who happened to be a girl. A really cool girl but still not his girlfriend. Emily sniffled and leaned against the painted wall. Her glasses were broken and hanging from one ear. Her lip trembled and she couldn't stop glancing at the bullies, her broken necklace, and her friend.

Well it was time to put his money where his butt would be if Nathan wanted to go home without bruises or broken glasses of his own.

"What are you doing? Don't you know she's got the cooties? Touch her and you get 'em too!"

Nick, Cory, Brian and Ted-at least I think that was the other bullies name-looked back at their victim in disgust. And for her part Emily was looking angry at Nathan and was trying to stop crying with limited success.

"What the hell is a cootie?"

That was Ted. The fat one of the group, as in he's eating-for-two fat with two chins and man-boobs.

"Don't you know? Cooties are invisible and you get them if you touch someone who has them."

Brian dropped the missing glasses arm and necklace and scooted away from Emily while his buddies scooted away from him. Brian looked around in terror and did what little he could to reclaim the friendship of Cory and the others.

"Cooties aren't real are they?"

"Of course they're real Brian! Doesn't that one girl, the bat-blind one with brown hair have them? I heard cooties make you act weird and stuff!"

"But!"

"And you touched the...! You've got cooties!"

Nathan's chest swelled with pride as a smile crept onto his face. He had won; the school thugs were fighting amongst themselves over how to get rid of the cooties and completely ignoring both visually challenged kids.

Nathan dropped to his hands and knees and scooted around the bullies and took Emily's hand, or tried to. She pulled away and glared at him with the discarded arm of her glasses and the broken chain of her necklace clutched in her fist.

"Go away Nathan. I'm not your friend anymore. You said I had cooties now no one will play with me!"

She ended in a wail and sat against the wall bawling her little heart out.

"Now everyone will think I have cooties just like that weird girl in Mrs. Nelson's class! The one they call the Cootie Queen!'

Nathan sat on his heels and regarded Emily with something akin to curiosity. The bullies finally deciding to pass the cooties on the next person they cornered. There wasn't much time left for him if he didn't act fast.

"But they leave that girl alone because they think she's the Cootie Queen. Haven't you seen her making those boys run away whenever they starting beating on other kids in Mrs. Walsh's class?"

He reached out to Emily again while Brian and the others finished up their plans for the next kid unlucky enough to be caught after school.

"I said you had cooties so that they'd leave you alone. I didn't want to be mean. I'm not like them at all."

Emily slowly uncurled and looked into his blue-green eyes with her own brown eyes shining and puffy from crying. She took Nathan's hand and scrambled to her feet, the unspoken apology accepted and none too soon.

"She touched him! She touched Nathan! You've both got Cooties!"

Cory snarled and turned to run away. Nathan smiled and quietly congratulated himself on his little white lie about cooties. Hand in hand, the two kids walked to the VI classroom to see if one of the teacher's aides could fix her glasses and to maybe meet the Cootie Queen. She was weird, but she never hurt anyone if they didn't try to hurt her first. Not only that but she was awesome at tetherball.


	4. Skyborne Malice

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 4-Sky-borne Malice

--

Nathan was standing in front to the full length mirror in his mother's bedroom admiring his Halloween costume. Earlier that year he'd gotten wind of a Star Trek convention in Los Angeles and begged his mother to take him and his brother there as an early birthday present until finally she agreed.

The boys had been allowed to bring one item each of their choice with them aside from the clothes and other things gathered for the trim and Nathan chose to bring his Tribble. It was the size of two of his fists and covered with white fur, when squeezed it would either coo like a dove in pleasure or shriek like an irritated parakeet.

The convention had lasted three days and the cast members of the original series plus a few others from Next Generation and Deep Space nine had make appearances and answered question. And the best part was that Gene Rodenberry's wife had been there to answer questions in her dead husbands place.

There were people dressed as all different aliens seen in the shows with Klingons, Cardassians, Vulcans, Romulans, and the various slave girls of Phinius Mudd in the majority. And with Nathan's tribble the Klingons were having a fit, for more information just watch the two episodes that featured the little fur balls: Trouble with Tribbles from the original season and the other one from DS9.

After the interviews Nathan, Luke and their mother walked around the souvenir booths filled with various trinkets. One of these booths sold costumes from every season to date and even some highly detailed ones from the alien races like the ever popular Klingons.

Nathan's mother wouldn't let him be a Klingon, she thought the costume was too scary, but she did agree to let him be a Starfleet Officer, and the booth did have a gold full body costume from the Next Generation on hand in his size.

A spree of buying the pips, communicator and a light-up phaser later including the phaser belt made for one very happy genetic freak in hiding resulting in a rampage with the tribble, running Klingons swearing in their language, staring adults and one laughing Vulcan. A lot of fun all around.

Nathan smiled at the memory and raced downstairs to show his mom how good he looked as Lieutenant Commander Ryo. The mothers name was Leyane and she had his pips, phaser, and communicator. She'd insisted on seeing him in the costume before they drove to school in her ford not that he minded. He made this costume look good! Even tall as he was his mother had to adjust the length of the sleeves and the fit around his waist. She was really good at that sort of thing, a real wiz with the sewing machine!

Down the hall, around the corner past the bathrooms, past Luke's and his own bedrooms then down the stairs to the left into the living room where his mother waited, dressed as a vampiress complete with bite marks on the neck, blood red lips, Gothic makeup, and fangs that could be adhered to the teeth and removed later.

Nathan leaped down the last few steps and landed with a thump much to his mothers' dismay. The Halloween festival at School was really fun and even the principal, Mr. Lizzard (that's liz-ard not liz-erd) would be there in costume. Principal Lizzard wad really nice to all the kids and this year he offered to be in the lineup to be dunked in a tank of ice water.

Luke came downstairs a moment later with his undead grunge costume on. Mom would have to put the make up and a few other things on with a weak kind of glue that stuck to the skin but the costume itself was pretty neat. Leyane had helped put the finishing touches on the clothes by painting the tires of her truck and running over the shirt and pants to make it look like Luke had become human road kill. The wig was spiked black with bits of green here and there that matched the wrist wraps.

"Well the two of you are almost ready! Now Nathan hold still so I can get this pinned on..."

Nathan stopped fidgeting long enough for his mother to pin the communicator on and suffered through another inspection before she'd pin the pips in their proper place.

"Now which one goes first, the black on or the solid ones?"

Luke snickered at his brothers' stricken look. How could she not know?

"Black before solid, 'cuz it's not a full rank. Only full fledged commanders get three solid pips!"

"All right, all right! I've never made it a habit to stay up all night watching reruns of Sci-fi shows."

With that she smoothed her sons ruffled temper and pushed the pins into place before putting the frog clasp in place. Truth be told the gold color of the costume offset his eyes and hair nicely.

"I've made a light dinner since we'll probably be eating at the festival. Your plates are on the counter and please try not to spill on yourself..."

Leyane watched as her little Trekkie ran into the kitchen and her grunge addict came over for the final touches to his costume. Both boys had insisted to be in full costume for their friends at school even though she'd tried to tell them that they'd get all dressed up tomorrow night for trick-or-treating. Ah well. That was how boys were and she wouldn't have it any other way.

It only took fifteen minutes for everyone to eat, put the rest of their costumes on and in Luke's case the makeup had to be applied to make him look undead, and in the truck. It was a ten minute drive up Eagle Peak Road and into Julian, and another five minutes until the family had parked at the school lot.

Skull and pumpkin lights hung from the trees and Halloween decorations had been hung on the walls. Booths with a variety of games common to this kind of celebration were out in force. For Twenty-five cents you could toss five rings at a row of bottles in the chance of winning a prize. The teacher dunking station had a full crowd and even the bean-bag tic-tac-toe booths were reeling in a fair amount of money.

And the costumes of the other students were as wildly varied as the games. Witches, superheroes, princesses, ninjas and Power rangers to name a few. With tickets for the raffle in hand and pocket full of change, Leyane set her sons off to have fun with the promise of meeting at the auditorium in time for the raffle.

Nathan and his brother walked around the booths looking at all the prizes and games. At the end of the lot there was a wrecked car where the older kids could pay a dollar to take a baseball bat and smash the car in. You only got ten swings so hardly any damage was done by a single person but the old Chevy still looked pretty busted. They played games and chatted with their class mates until their watches went off. It was time to meet mom outside the auditorium.

--

Overhead the silent sentinel of a satellite focused its electronic eye on the festivities. Its targets were a group of three consisting of one adult female with red hair and twin adolescent males with similar features. All of Southern California suffered it's scrutiny until it scanned the open playground of Stellar Elementary school. The lens focused on a group that filled the qualifications. The approximate ages of the adolescents matched the data it had been given.

In New York a computer terminal came on and scrolled the live satellite feed of the targets. The small group of genetic scientists in the room clustered around the screen and a few even smiled.

"Eight years and we've finally found them!"

"Yes but there appears to be no presence of their recombinant DNA..."

"Keyhole is transmitting this live. It will pass beyond video range of southern California in two minutes"

A woman's voice pierced the excited tension in the room with ease. Her hair was dyed strangely and even in a white lab coat she stood out from the rest. Hired into the Institute to track the rouge experiments it had been her job for two years to find Leyane Ryo and her sons, each time the Hunter had gotten close the prey had already moved on in the dead of night. Only the use of Military satellites had made her task slightly easier.

"We have a likely match in the area last given by the last witness."

Megan looked away from her computer at Admiral Yaker. These were his experiments; she'd need his permission to gather them up.

"All I need is the go ahead and funding to bring them all in. If all goes well I can have them back here by the end of the week."

The older man nodded without taking his eyes from the live feed. The boys were walking into a building and out of sight.

"Very well Megan. But be careful and bring Leyane too. The Outbound experiments become incredibly fragile when separated forcefully from their human mothers."


	5. The Velvet Trap

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 5-The Velvet Trap

--

The rest of the week was unremarkable at best and on Friday Nathan and his brother had shouldered their backpacks and shuffled to the Bicycle racks after school. Thankfully they hadn't been stolen or moved during the week even if they were a bit dirty from the autumn rain.

Nathan took a little silver key from his pant pocket and unlocked the metal reinforced cable lock on his bike. Not that theft was common here in Julian where everyone got to see their neighbors at least once a week but when you had an expensive bicycle you had to be careful, right?

Nathan gently tugged the cable from its place through the gears on the pedals and from the spokes of the front wheel. The lock part had been over the top bar under the handles with another loop of cable over that in an "X" shape. So far the lock setup had dissuaded any would be thieves from trying to cut through the lock or remove the wheels. Why would they if the wheel they'd remove is also chained to the rack?

Luke unlocked his bike and watched as Nathan coiled the cable lock carefully and strapped it to his bicycle, under the seat. They'd stayed late to help their teacher, Mrs. Bacon, clean her classroom after the little paper and paste mess caused after lunch buy a bunch of kids high off of Halloween candy. Nathan walked his bike out to the sidewalk and walked to the corner.

It was getting colder everyday and the leaves on the deciduous trees were rapidly changing colors to orange, red and brown and Leyane Ryo had insisted that her sons wore layers to school. Nathan was wearing brown long sleeved shirt under a sage green t-shirt with some logo over the chest pocket and over all that he was wearing his Miami Dolphins TM windbreaker. He had two pairs of socks, one white under a black pair and thick soled boots meant for heavy duty work with dark wash denim pants.

His brother was dressed similarly with a wool sweater over a Billabong shirt, which was in turn covered with a Dallas Cowboys TM snow jacket. Luke's pants were baggy and black with bleach stains over worn out Nike tennis shoes that reeked like a dumpster left out in the sun too long.

Down one street and up another in Zen-like silence until they came to Julian proper where they could safely ride their bikes home. The main street had light traffic though the restaurants had regular foot traffic. The sky was partially cloudy and while the air was brisk it wasn't yet cold enough to make their breaths appear as clouds.

Luke looked around and shot a challenging look at his brother.

"Race ya home via Eagle Peak Road!"

Eagle Peak Road was a winding two lane road that went past two camp grounds, Camp Winaka and Whispering Oaks, used by Girl Scouts and downhill past their house. Not safe for cyclists at night and dangerous for an unaware motorist because of its occasional blind turns and frequent cattle crossings.

Nathan thought a moment while swinging a leg over his bike. Mom would have a fit if she found out. Of course Luke wouldn't squeal, nor would he so it would be alright. And he was so bored after scraping dried glue from the desks that he'd do almost anything.

"Skill Run?"

Nathan hardly ever won races against Luke because of his lack of depth perception but whenever skill was required the playing field was leveled.

"What else! The one to get some leaves from that willow wins!"

Identical smiles lit their faces as the lined up the edge of the street and watched at Porsche roll past. A little white dog's head was sticking out the passenger window with little bows on its ears.

Luke put his right foot on the pedal and gripped the handle bars of his red and gold bike tightly.

"Ready..."

The Porsche rolled away and down the Old Julian Highway.

"Get set..."

Nathan took a deep breath and to calm his nerves. To win he'd have to time it just right... Even if Luke got to their driveway first, snatching the willow leaves would be considered a win.

"GO!!"

Luke got a head start with Nathan not far behind. The sun was in Nathan's eyes making it hard to see the road through the finger smudges on his glasses. Down the side of the road with trees on both sides speeding past him like flashes in the dark. This was the best feeling ever, almost like flying! Wind pulled at Nathan's clothes as he gathered speed on his ten speed bike around the first corner. Another minute and he'd have to make a turn down some old service road.

With Luke constantly in sight the race was still any ones game. Both boys knew the route and how to take advantage of every little twist and turn. Across the broad road and down a side street with dirt ditches. Nathan's bike bumped along the half buried rocks, making him wish he'd worn his helmet.

The road got bumpier until one of Nathan's feet slipped from its pedal. Fear, panic and thoughts of crashing made adrenaline flood his veins like molten lead and his breath came in quick gasps. He needed to regain control before he crashed and made himself blind!

Nathan took his eyes from the pavement and looked down at his feet and the pedals. With his elbows locked he shouldn't end up in a ditch. He let the other foot off the pedal and watched the gears spin while he kept the bicycle from hitting a tree or spinning off into the road. When the whirring of the pedals slowed to a dull grind he put his feet back in place and rotated the thumb tab to a higher gear, Luke had gone out of sight.

Around one corner and down another side street! Up ahead was Eagle Peak Road and Luke! Nathan swung wide around the corner as a car horn blared going the opposite way, He'd nearly been run over for his carelessness.

They were almost home. Another turn brought the willow tree into view. It was huge and over a hundred years old with a gnarled, smooth barked trunk and branches that hung over the road. The trailing branches swung gracefully in the wind like the trailing fins of goldfish. Luke stood up on his bike, letting go of the handlebars to catch some of the dainty leaves. Judging by the way he sat down heavily on his bike, he'd come away with nothing.

Nathan swallowed deeply. If he did this right he'd still win even though Luke was practically at their driveway. One, two, three bumps, his markers for this little test of skill. Between those two bone-white stones in the road and then...

Nathan stopped pedaling and stood up as tall as he could. One branch mockingly slapped the palm of his outstretched hand even as his fingers closed. The bicycle listed to the left and Nate jerked his hand on the handlebars to correct it.

There! Nathan's fingers pealed three pale leaves from the very last branch. He sat down and carefully applied the brakes, no sense making a mad dash up the driveway when he'd already won.

A smile split the young, be-speckled boys face as he coasted up the end of the driveway to where Luke stood by his bicycle waiting and staring at the crushed leaves peeking from Nathan's fingers on the handlebars.

"You got the leaves."

"Yep! I win!"

Nathan dismounted and walked his bike up the driveway to Casa Del Ryo. Like the roads it was lined with trees, a real fire hazard and a major concern whenever a Santa Anna made its presence known to all Southern Californians. Most all adults agreed that one of these years fires would break out as a result but how was that any different from when fires were set intentionally by arsonists?

With only the sounds of the insects and birds to keep them company along the long gravel driveway Nathan and Luke rounded the last bend and stared in wide eyed wonder. Three moving vans were parked in front of their house. Big burly men who looked like Hollywood models were loading labeled boxes into the trucks while their mother was arguing with a woman with hair down to the back of her knees that was dyed in what had to be the strangest way possible, even for Californians.

The petite woman was leaning against a rented SUV of the Chrysler persuasion with her arms crossed and a harsh expression on her heart shaped face. This changed to a much kinder expression as soon as she heard the crunch of bicycle wheels approaching. Every part of her skin was covered in freckles and her clothes were spring colors.

Under slightly oversized lavender vest with black lining on the hems was a spring orange shirt with a deep V neckline and camel colored Capri style pants. Sandals showed off her dainty ankles and rose-red nail polish on her toes.

Her brown eyes sparkled as she surveyed Nathan and Luke with interest. They looked just like their mother, and like all the other winged experiments. Perhaps the wings were hidden under their coats…

"Hello Nathan, Luke. I hope all this hasn't scared you."

She gestured with one hand to encompass the whole packing operation. Nathan noted idly that the black band on her wrist must be a digital watch.

"My name Is Megan Reynolds and I'm with the Witness Protection Program. Your mother ran off before we could help. Hid her tracks pretty well but if we could find her than someone else may have as well. In order to protect you from the Gang that killed your father."

A greedy smile crossed her face briefly, thought it was lost on the boys.

"Now that we've found you I'll be taking you to New York where we can keep you safer than you are now."

Leyane glared at Megan and pulled Luke closer to her side.

"I'm not leaving them."

Megan leveled a fierce gaze on the older woman. She couldn't believe she had to keep the family together. It would be much easier to just snatch the boys and run, but she was being paid top dollar for the three of them and half a million dollars was nothing to sneeze at.

"Of course. The Gogalax crime family in Chicago won't distinguish between their targets wife and their targets family..."

She smiled down at the eight year old boys and reached into the drivers' seat for a plastic bag. Nathan's eyes went wide at the Royal blue Game boy advance SP, and then at the red one that came out after it. How long had he gone past the game shop in Ramona and stared at the little compact games? How many Christmas's had he wished for Santa to bring one? Longing and greed overrode his caution he had to have it!

"Now each of you gets one. Plus the games I brought to make the flight to New York less boring. Now, we haven't touched your rooms yet so you have enough time to gather a few things, put them in a travel back or your backpacks before we drive down to the Limbergh Airport."

Each boy snatched a portable game and raced into the house, their bicycle game forgotten.

Nathan stuffed his new toy in his coat pocket and looked at his brother as they raced up the steps. His heart was exploring its range in his chest as pure happiness flooded his mind. They were going to New York! They were gonna ride a plane! And maybe we wouldn't have to move so much afterwards. Maybe they would have real friends they could invite to their house for birthdays and sleepovers.

Behind Nathan's eyes stars exploded and the immense pressure that had been building since Sunday eased. This is what he'd been waiting for. The one he and Luke had wanted for so long.

"You know that big feeling? The one from earlier this week? This is it! I knew it was going to happen soon!"

I didn't know it then but a gilded cage was closing around my brother and me. And we wouldn't realize it until the gold paint flaked off revealing the steel bars. We were walking into a trap, and we were too stupid to know better. A trap created by our DNA.


	6. Rising Tide

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 6-Rising Tide

--

An hour and a half later Megan, her escorts, the two experiments and their human mother were walking through the Old Town Historical Park. All the way to San Diego the boys had insisted on touring San Diego before flying to New York and their mother had used a moment of inattention to whisk her sons into a Taxi and toward the Taylor Street Trolley Station.

Megan scowled as Nathan pointed at a white painted house. The little sign by the window said Whaley House- Real Haunted house. That was a load of horse manure; Ghosts weren't real, they were just superstitious ranting like the Loch Ness Monster or the Fountain of Youth!

"Mom! Can we see the Whaley House Mom? Please? I saw it on that one show about haunted houses of California! Maybe we'll see the old lady who died falling down the stairs!"

Megan ground her teeth. Leanne was delaying her mission on purpose out of spite! She'd talked with that ungrateful bitch instead of snatching her sons up from school though she'd had plenty of time to with two squads of Erasers from Death Valley on hand. No she'd had to do the considerate thing and show the mother that the best thing she could do for her sons was to bring them back to New York, to the Institute and to make it plain that there was no other way for her to keep in touch with them.

"I don't see why not Nathan. And I think there's an ice cream shop nearby when we finish the tour."

Great! Now they were going to stop for ice cream. The young geneticist flipped an errant strand of multicolored hair over her shoulder and let out a frustrated breath. She'd had to cancel their original flight and now it looked as if she'd have to sleep in a local hotel. The airport closed soon and what flights were leaving at this moment weren't going anywhere she wanted to go.

The 'happy' family chatted and ogled the interior of a rather musty house as docents told the story of the house's former occupants and how they had died in it. She obligingly gazed into rooms when Nathan, or Luke on the rarest of occasions, asked her a question and answered them. No she hadn't seen the tablecloth move. The window was open and the air was moving the curtain. No she didn't believe in ghosts.

The air outside was cold and moist because of the Pacific Ocean and the sun was hidden behind the marine layer. The thick gray clouds that made up the marine layer were a new experience for the born and bred city girl. She'd never left New York until she was tasked with finding these two kids two years ago and she had to admit that the United States had a lot to offer if you had the time and finances to go from state to state.

After that supposedly haunted house was ice cream from a place called Coldstone Creamery in large Styrofoam containers called "Gotta Have It!" The ice cream was good but Megan was thoroughly wishing she'd brought a heavy jacket with her instead of her lightweight vest.

It was almost eight at night and her targets were finally getting tired. Good thing one of the Erasers had managed to book three rooms at a place called Loma Lodge nearby. Megan tossed her empty cup and dirty spoon into a trash can and walked faster to catch up with the Ryo's; they were turning a corner at a store called Del Sol.

Megan rubbed her hands on her jeans to warm them up. San Diego was supposed to be warm and sunny, not cold and wet! The stores on either side of the little street were either shutting down for the day or turning their lights on to continue attracting costumers. Megan looked down at Luke and frowned as he turned to look at the oddly named store.

Luke darted inside much to his mothers, and Megan's, dismay. Leyane cried out and dragged Nathan into the store. Megan ground her teeth together and jogged inside as well. The store was dimly lit with black lights or something very like them scattered throughout the store.

"Hello and welcome to Del Sol where everything changes colors in the sun!"

Megan and her bodyguards skidded to a halt in front of the salesgirl who had greeted them. She was wearing white shorts despite the cold and a white T-shirt with a cream and black decal that had two dolphins and a seagull playing in a wave. On the bottom of the image San Diego was written in slanting, curvy letters. Her skin was dark from years in the sun and her hair was cotton candy pink like here eyes. Now THAT had to be from contacts!

"Everything changes color. To see what the color change just pick up an item and place it under these UV lights and wait ten seconds! Guaranteed to never wear out or your money back!" The girl had a chipped tooth and a bleached white smile to go with her bubbly attitude.

The girl stepped back and Megan hurried past her. Luke, Leyane, and Nathan were gathered at the back of the store. Luke had reached up to almost the top shelf and pulled a white shirt down.

"Come on Luke, Nathan, We have to get to the hotel and sleep before our flight tomorrow. We can come back later and get whatever you're looking at."

Megan's comment earned her a glare from Leyane and a mouthed curse word.

"Try it on Luke"

Before Megan could gather herself for another protest Luke had charged into the small changing room and by the sound of it, was flinging his sweater and shirt off to try on whatever it was. Like lightning he was back in the shirt. Like all the other items in this store the decal was an off white though the black lines clearly defined a dragon flying with more like it in the background.

He looked down at the dragon and ran his fingers along the thick spines that ran down its back and along the tail. On the shelf above shirts like the one he was wearing was a colored drawing of what the shirt would look like after being in the sun. The dragons' body would turn green and its wings would be red and yellow with stripes of blue over a sunset.

"Mom. Can I have this one?"

He asked the question as if he was afraid he'd be told no. He looked up; right into Megan's eyes and something inside her said he didn't trust her. He hadn't said a more than a few words or made one move toward her for better or worse since scooping the electronic toy from her hand.

Finally the thing that had been nagging Megan through the whole night finally hit home. Luke had been unusually quiet this whole time, almost as if he was sulking about something. And as far as she remembered from the catastrophe of canceling their flight he hadn't asked for anything until now.

Leyane straightened the sleeves and knelt down to his level.

"If you really want it then I'll get it for you. Just get dressed and hand the shirt out so I can buy it, then we can go, Okay?"

Like all mothers Mrs. Ryo seemed to have picked on her son's distress though she couldn't know the reason why, could she? How could Luke know when the real reasons for their sudden move had been covered before they had gotten home?

The bus ride to the little hotel was uneventful though strangely quiet. Leyane had insisted on getting her sons some accessories for their newest toys, probably to make up for the fact that Megan had gotten them the very thing they'd complained to their old friends about not having.

Once the eight of them had gotten to the Loma Lodge, Megan assigned one of her Eraser bodyguards to sleep in the room with the Ryo's to make sure they didn't' just disappear while she slept. That would make her whole trip to the Golden State a real waste of time and effort despite all the things California had to offer its visitors.


	7. Silver lining, or is it?

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 7-Silver lining, or is it?

It was early morning and Nathan, Leyane, Luke, Megan and the insanely too good looking body guards filed into Limbergh Airport to catch the first flight to Phoenix, Arizona where they'd switch planes to go to Chicago, Illinois and from there to the Big Apple.

Nathan was craning his head this way and that to take in every detail of the old airport. The walls were whitewashed and graying from people constantly brushing against them and leaving skin oils. Plastic pamphlet holders were screwed to the walls and filled with all kind of Airline paraphernalia including rates to fly American over Southwest and what you can expect on your flight.

The passenger Drop-off terminal was already slightly crowded with Taxi's carrying people trying to avoid being late for their flights because of the baggage, and security checks.

Megan's mouth quirked as she thought about the propaganda. They'd be taking American Airlines and to add to the delight of delivering this little family to her boss she'd be racking up some frequent flier miles for later use.

Their luggage was tagged for transfer and sent on its way to their flight in just over an hour. Now to get to Gate 27 and pick up the tickets that had been bought on-line.

The group of eight walked past the high ceiling-ed room where people reclaimed their luggage after their flight and down the halls with charcoal gray carpets that had been sprinkled with small geometric shapes for variety and to potentially hide any stains.

The narrow halls that lead to the terminals were empty except for some brightly colored posters, machines and the security personnel that manned them. A small conveyor belt pushed the carry on bags through an X-ray machine that revealed what was in each and every bag.

Megan smiled as Nathan dropped his little backpack onto the conveyor belt with a big smile on his face; he was so thrilled to be flying. Even Luke wasn't quite so distant or distrustful like he was yesterday. One by one the various bags were placed on the black rubber and were deposited on the other side of the Metal detector.

The Rent-a-cop yawned and waved them through the metal scanner. It was far too early apparently for that fat moron to be really awake and to him a job was just a job, even if the pay sucked.

Everyone took their bags and Luke glared at the Eraser that had snagged his backpack. The red haired boy put his hand out and glared at the hulking figure with a spark of defiance in his eyes.

"Give it back or I gonna make you hurt."

The Eraser leered at the kid and held the black and green bag even higher, to the boys' annoyance. Luke's eyes narrowed and his lips moved soundlessly as a strange expression crossed the face of his tormentor, a look of confusion and discomfort.

Leyane sucked air between her teeth and hurried over to her younger son. She'd seen that expression before, always before something suddenly burst into flame. And if Luke showed his talents this witch from the Institute might just grab her sons and run.

"Luke please don't, not here. We can't risk people seeing you angry like that. Please..."

Megan looked from Luke to his mother and back. Nothing in the File on these two mutants had mentioned any kind of special abilities but if what she heard was correct then her small pack of Erasers was in for a ride when OP-1 cut loose.

The Young scientist motioned slightly with her hand and the Eraser growled before handing the backpack back to its owner. Luke snarled and snatched the bag with enough force to tear one of the straps, which made the kids snarl deepen.

Nathan had watched this exchange with worry and had hopped from one foot to the other. Like his mother he'd responded Luke's anger and had become highly agitated. Thankfully the be-speckled boy had only fidgeted and shifted his weight from one foot to the other instead of, say, running off.

Leyane Ryo glared at Megan and caught hold of her sons' hands and walked down the hall with the same dignity of someone who was walking to their death and was determined to show no fear. Her back was rigidly straight and her shoulders were pulled back with pride. Unless the boys could read minds there was no way they knew the truth behind their sudden move.

The terminals were mostly clear of people and the smell of recycled air and grease smothered food from the little restaurants filled the air. Perhaps at one point this place had been state of the art but now it was in need of new carpets and plastic chairs.

Already people were waiting for their flights. Men in business suits in gray and black were fixing their ties and doing work on their laptops as a mother quickly got her kid to the bathroom to change what had to be a full diaper judging by the speed with the woman was running at.

The group of eight took seats at the end of two rows that were near the boarding doors. The Ryo's sat together though little Luke sat across from his mother with his feet braced against her chair. The rows were facing one another and despite the boys young age they were quite tall. Tall enough to bridge the gap between the chairs with ease and out run men twice their age.

Megan plopped down in the chair next to Leyane and the Erasers flanked all of them. Her "special" one took a seat next to Luke who didn't seem to appreciate the hulking figure being so close and shot it a seething look that looked like it would kill if it could. The young scientist and some times bounty hunter leaned her head against the back of the chair and closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Outside planes rolled down the runway and the sunlight trickled in through the double plated glass of the east facing windows. Megan had to admit that it was all rather pretty in a retro kind of way. It was so warm and pleasant here. And she'd gotten so little sleep last night because the Erasers were big into snoring, and she was personally training one that was close to its expiration date.

Off down the terminal a police drug dog was making his rounds with his handler and was sniffing a black rolling carry on bag. Back the way they came from a man was raising his voice because he had to get out of line since he'd set off the metal detector.

The hushed murmurs of cell phone calls rippled through the open room and gave the impression of waves lapping against a sandy shore. There was even some background music floating by from one of the shops that enhanced the effect with steel drums and birds calling. A real Tropical paradise in this mundane little place. The effect was so soothing that Megan started to drift into blissful sleep. Her toadies would wake her when it was time to board the plane.

And then the Twin Mutants took out their new toys.

Nathan took out one of the games he'd been given the previous day, and his Game Boy and snapped the game card in place. within minutes the first few notes of Super Mario Advance theme music crashed through Megan's drowsy revere of her surrounding's and brought her forcefully into the present. Not long after that an even more annoying music eternally latched to the Pokemon franchise drifted through the air from Luke. Both boys were engrossed in their games.

Nathan held his close to his face so he could see the little mustached plumber run and jump across the screen and his fingers danced across the control pad and buttons. If Megan hadn't known better she would have suspected that these escaped experiments had owned these little handhelds before.

Luke's Game boy was tilted to catch the light not blocked by Megan's personal Eraser and was completely oblivious to the world beyond that little three inch square screen. The boy looked at his digital watch a few times and smiled at something on the screen.

"Now boarding Flight 39 to New York with transfers in Arizona and Illinois. Please have your tickets ready and form a line at Gate 27."

The stewardess smiled as she spoke into the intercom. She was taller than Megan by about an inch and had dyed blond hair, that or it always had that coppery-metallic sheen to it. The name tag on the woman's red vest read Katherine and was meticulously placed, everything about her screamed well organized with every detail put in its place from her highly polished shoes and nails, starched blouse and skirt. Right down to her scant jewelry.

Nathan looked up with and with a look of regret as he flicked the power switch on his game. The little light in the corner flickered and turned off with a barely audible beep before the Royal blue portable game system was stashed in the smallest pocket in his backpack. Luke however just stuffed the little hand held into his ripped backpack and waited for the adults to get up. After all they had the tickets and flying in a plane did seem kind of fun.


	8. First Flight

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 8-First Flight

--

Nathan pressed his face against the little window that overlooked the left wing on the old 747. The hull of the plane was painted all white except for the red and blue A's on the tail fin and what looked like a caricature of an Eagle in blue between the letters.

Luke looked around his brother in the cramped space between seats. This was the first time either boy had flown before apparently. She'd noticed the complete lack of wings when Nathan had run past the hotel door on his way to the ice machine. The kid had raced down the second story hall with near inhuman speed and no shirt.

"Wow look! It's like a huge bird wing! How can this thing fly? It doesn't' flap its wings like a bird does it?"

Nathan turned away from the window and looked back at his Mom and Megan for the answer Megan scooted into the third chair before Leyane could get around the couple behind and looked at the boys. Dear old Mom was doing her best to keep the Institute away from her boys, but it wouldn't work. They were the property of Itex.

Megan smiled at the boy and leaned over Luke, who flinched away from direct contact, and looked out the window with Nathan.

"You see the giant drums about half way down the leading edge of the wings?"

Nate pushed his nose against the window again and nodded. She wasn't sure what was wrong but the boy seemed to have a vision problem. She'd ask him later. But she did know that he could only see the shapes of things at a distance and hated people coming up on his left side. That was why he'd taken the seat over the left wing, so that he'd see everyone coming and wouldn't be surprised.

"Those are the engines. They help the plane get enough speed to get airborne. You see those hinged flaps on the trailing edge of the wing? Those give us lift and help with takeoffs and landings..."

Nathan smiled and looked the wing over. A ray of sunlight caught a bracelet on Nate's right wrist that had escaped Megan's attention before. She turned her head to the side and tried to get a good look at the thing before Luke excused himself to go talk with his mother.

The scientist scooted into the seat next to Nathan and picked up his backpack from the floor. This was as good a time as any to get to know a little more about her paychecks for a bonus upon arrival in New York.

Nate sat down in the narrow chair and said nothing as Megan put the little bag in his lap, or even when she strapped the seat belt on him tightly.

"To see the world from miles high, and be free as the birds that you so admire. The future is at hand; let no one kill those dreams. Let none tell you what you can or can't do."

A vague smile placed itself on the boys lips as the sunlight made his red hair look like fire. The slight freckles on his face stood out against his white skin and his blue-green eyes stared into space without focus.

Megan stopped and looked at the boy next to her strangely. He seemed utterly unaware of what he'd just said. Nathan turned and looked blankly at Megan as if he was expecting someone else to be sitting there. Maybe he was.

Nathan recovered quickly enough from his confusion and pasted a smile on his face that didn't reach those sea-like eyes of his. Eyes that twitched and wandered in tandem almost like when people have a stroke

"Heh. I make up poetry. Nice huh? It comes naturally."

Nathan sighed and let his right arm rest easily on the arm rest; the silvery bracelet hung loosely about his slender wrist and caught the light like a beacon

Megan plucked at the boys gray sweater to get his attention.

"What's that bracelet? Looks official."

Nathan, OP-2 was his designation, looked down at Megan's hand and nodded.

"Go for it. I don't mind."

Carefully she put her fingers around Nate's wrist and picked it up. Unlike the other Experiments she'd met this one didn't try to bite, scream or flinch when she touched him. He only watched as she moved his arm to a comfortable position so she could see the little almond shaped tag and looked up only briefly when one of Megan's guards took the aisle seat.

The plane was already close to full and the stewardesses were going over the standard pre-flight demonstration of what to do in an emergency.

Carefully Megan pushed the light cotton material back fro the bracelet and used her nails carefully to get the tag facing her and blinked. It was a Medic-Alert.

CALL COLLECT 209-634-4917 USA

Megan frowned and angled the stainless steel bracelet to catch the light. There were so many scratches on this bracelet that it was hard to read the engravings...

NYSTAGMYS, SEPTO-OPTIC DYSPLASIA

she blinked and looked at Nathan who was paying attention to the demonstration. She didn't know a thing about the Dysplasia but at least she knew why his eyes wavered now.

ALLERGIC TO AMOXICILLIN, CHLORAL HYDRATE

A flash of something like fear and excitement coursed through Megan's system just like a shot of Adrenalin, her skin flashed with heat from her face down to her knees and an untapped strength flowed through her. It was like when you are at the top of the first big hill in a roller coaster and looking down as the rest of the car makes its way off the chains, the big breath before the big dive.

This was terrible! Somehow he'd been in a hospital long enough to get diagnosed with some kind of visual impairment, get tested on two medications that made him have an allergic reaction and was registered with the Medic-Alert Foundation. How many other people knew about the existence of these boys?

Megan turned her eyes back to the last line of text on the very bottom of the bracelet, it was just a bunch of numbers that didn't make any sense to Megan. Probably Nathan's registry number with the Medic-Alert.

The long haired woman in her twenties turned the tab over and ran her finger along the stainless steel face. The words Medical Alert were in all caps on the One by two inch tag vertically on either side of an old style staff with a snake winding around it. It was the Staff of Aesculapius, Father of Medicine. The whole logo had been etched deeply into the tag and painted with red enamel to make the words stand out.

"You wanna see something cool?"

Megan jumped. She hadn't noticed Nathan was watching her. Nathan pulled his arm back and rummaged through his backpack for something. When he pulled his hand from the little cell phone pouch on the outside he held a battered little, something, in his hand.

It had only one eye piece and the dark gray paint was flaking and pealing from use, revealing the hard black plastic underneath. The light bounced off the side and three words could barely be distinguished on the side. 'Vis-à-Vis'

Nathan smiled and handed the thing to Megan, he sure was friendly. She turned the little toy over in her hands and spun the ring that was stuck on one end and which bracketed a dirty lens like that of a microscope. What was this thing anyway?

"It's a monocular. It helps me see details at a distance. Like binoculars but only half of one."

Megan frowned and put it to her eye. It didn't help her much but then she had 20/30 vision.

"Nathan. Do you know what Septo Optic Dysplasia is?"

Nate took the monocular back and put it back in it's place before answering. The shadows moved inside the plane as it was taxied to the end of the runway to start its takeoff.

"Not really"

Nathan looked down at a spot between his knees were they were pushed against the back of the seat in front of him.

"The doctors say that the Optic nerve didn't develop right so I've got no light perception in my left eye, and that I'm lucky not to be a retarded dwarf... Mom printed out a whole bunch of stuff about it when we lived in Miami."

Megan privately snorted. Like the work that had gone into his genes would allow that...

"And they say it can't be fixed. What's it like to see normally?"

Nathan looked at Megan. The way he'd asked her so casually about how she saw the way she did gave the scientist the impression that this wasn't the first time he had thought this.

"Well I guess we see the same way."

"But you don't bump into things or people do you?"

"Not unless I'm tired. I can't imagine only seeing with one eye. What's that like?"

Nathan looked dejectedly at his lap and frowned.

"Everyone makes fun of you for being different and for being blind even if your not. You can't tell how far things are but you can hear really good so people can't sneak up on you. I really wish I could see normally..."

Megan almost felt sorry for this little escaped experiment. It had been allowed a normal life for a time and it couldn't understand why people disliked it. It was almost a pity to deliver him to something much worse than school bullies.

The engines outside the window whined loudly and the plane picked up speed as it surged down the runway. They were on their way... Megan patted Nathan's hand and smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry. Things will get better for you. You know Stem Cell Research may hold the key to your wish."

The nose of the plane pulled up and slowly, almost as if in a dream, the plane started to fly into the clear blue sky.


	9. Are we there yet?

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 9-Are we there yet?

--

it was getting close to evening by the time the group had arrived at the LaGuardia Airport on the outskirts of New York City. The sky was hidden by clouds but the light of the soon to be setting sun forced its way through the gloom, turning the clouds a dirty brownish pink color and despite his coat Nathan was cold. With the trouble of planes not always arriving or taking off on time and some even being canceled, it had been a long day for everyone.

Nathan sat down gratefully in the back of a rented van with his mom and brother. His whole body was sore for some reason and one ear still hadn't popped properly. The flights had gotten boring, at least between airports and getting the luggage anyway.

Nathan's eyes and mind wandered and his Game Boy had lost power long ago but still he was bored. Well maybe he could lose himself by remembering everything. That had always worked before.

The ground far below the airplanes had crawled by and highways just looked like so much silvery ribbon below and what had to be farmland looked like a patchwork quilt in varying shades of green. But the mountains were amazing. And the lakes too, not to mention the mountain ranges. The Rocky Mountains were freaking huge compared to the Appellation Mountains on the other coast. At least the airports they'd stopped at were fun.

He wrinkled his nose and used the crinkling skin to push his glasses back in place before closing his eyes. It was a good trick but it didn't work if he had oily sunscreen on or if he was sweating. As the others crowded into the van and the last of the luggage was stuffed into the back, Nate thought over everything that had happened that day.

--

the Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix, Arizona had been really neat. The whole thing was wide open space with glass windows and air conditioning. All of the employees had a funny accent though, and had suntanned skin. And they all hid the crispy critter thing going on with the r necks. As if they never used sunscreen before.

Curious about why there were so few people outside when the sky was clear and the sun looked so invitingly warm, Nathan managed to sneak away to step outside learned almost immediately why it was air conditioned. It was hot out there, hot and humid and made him wanna strain water out of the air with his teeth.

The visually disabled boy leaned against a stuccoed wall and panted. It felt like trying to breathe water, or like having someone sit on your chest after you ran a marathon. It was so hard to catch your breath, the air just felt so thick... When Megan had found him outside she'd grabbed his arm and scolded him for sneaking off before marching him back to the group, and to lunch.

There was the usual sprinkling of Fast food restaurants, Subaros, McDonald's, Panda Express-or something like it-, and a Rubio's! Mom and Megan had ordered for everyone while Nathan and Luke tried not to tick off their snarling guardians.

The food was brought over in four large trays wit drinks for everyone. There were tacos, burritos, healthy salads with chicken and steak, freshly baked chips with black and pinto beans to dip them in, Megan had looked at her fish tacos in disgust and had given them to one of the guys that were with her.

Nate couldn't understand what was wrong with the tacos. It was just Mahi Mahi, a kind of white fish, dipped in a beer batter and fried, served with cabbage, tomatoes and a spicy, creamy sauce in a corn or flour tortilla. But then he'd thought they sounded nasty until he'd eaten his first fish taco about a year ago. Now he swore by them.

Nathan buckled in and let his head fall back against the seat. Flying was so tiring but the adults wanted to do a few more things. Megan had told them a house had been bought for them and that their things would arrive in a few days so they had to rent cots and stuff. Mom wanted to get something healthy for dinner.

One of Megan's male friends got in the drivers seat and started the van. The terminal they'd left was already lit with Incandescent lights and the parking lot lights flickered to life even as the group of eight pulled into the main traffic of New York.

The man growled much like a wolf and took the on-ramp north to Upstate New York a little faster than necessary and the sound of the luggage shifting made the some of the unmorphed Erasers jump. Nathan's head slipped to the side as the van turned and sleep slowly claimed his mind and body.

Nathan hazily thought of their extended delay at O'Hare airport, their luggage hadn't been on the right plane...

--

O'Hare International Airport had been the best; the whole place totally redefined awesome. The moving walkways that lead to the terminals were mirrored with Neon lights on the ceiling in wavy lines like colored water and the shops displayed all kinds of stuff. Both Nathan and his brother stared in awe at the Field Museum Store with its dinosaur skeleton looking down on everyone.

And not only was the airport awesome but so was the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. Their luggage was put on another plane that wouldn't arrive for a few hours because of delays so they had to kill time until it caught up.

Megan hadn't wanted to leave the air port but Mom and grabbed him and Luke and flagged down a Taxi, all Megan could do was follow with a few of her bodyguards.

You had to pay to enter the museum but it was worth it. In the very front was a model of a Moon landing module and a 3D movie to show what it's like on a moon walk with those cheap 3D glasses and chairs that moved in time with the screen to make you feel like you were really in space.

Further in there was a walk in model of the inside of the Human heart complete with lighted sections that match the narration of what each part of the heart did. And in the back of the museum in a little courtyard with a garden and a fake dinosaur excavation sandbox was a little beaver dam that kids could crawl through.

Then there had been the cemetery where Dad was. Mom had bought three peace roses and set them right in front of a marble headstone.

_Here lies Barry Wilbur Ryo  
5/18/1966--7/5/1993  
Love lost will never be forgotten..._

--

the van came to a stop and the adults got out to rend beds form a camping store. The little alarm on the van was set and the horn honked once to show that the alarm was active.

Nathan moved in his sleep and leaned against his brother who put an arm around little Nathan and sighed. This was probably the only time the bothers would get some time alone with each other for a while

"Nathan, We can't let then know about your dreams... ever."

Nathan snuggled against Luke and mumbled an affirmative. He was at that point where you talk in your sleep and yet you're not quite awake. Luke held his brother close as the adults made their way back to the van.

"And, I've got a secret too; I see ghosts and Dad's always there watching over us and mom. He wants me to tell you that he loves you..."

--

I guess with Dreams of the Future comes Dreams of the Past. I never knew Luke could see the dead, much less hear and talk with them. I was too tired to hear that part back then. But maybe that's why Luke never trusted Megan from the start. He could see all the hybrids she'd killed and heard their screams. And Dad's warnings.


	10. Of Pokemon and Whitecoats

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 10-Of Pokémon and Whitecoats

--

Three days of hectic unpacking and moving furniture later had revealed Nathan and Luke's unnatural strength. Each boy had picked up a box that easily weighed half as much as they did and carried it into the house much to the astonishment of the Erasers and Megan.

The boys had watched anxiously as their things were unloaded from the back of the moving trucks and more than once had ordered around the half human wolves to be careful. That was until a box labeled breakable for Nathan's room came into view.

The white box was about the same size as the average stereo system and had pictures printed on the sides of the contents. One NeoView Video Eye, or Closed Circuit Color Television, was packaged with care in molded Styrofoam and packaging peanuts. With their mother in the house supervising the distribution of the boxes there was no one close enough to keep the box from getting handled roughly.

Nathan had cried out and for some reason a clump of grass nearby had set itself on fire as the be-speckled boy and his brother raced up the ramp and into the dark interior of the truck to snatch the bulky box from the hands of the Erasers-turned-moving-men. The men snarled as their hands were slapped roughly and if not for their conditioning to follow orders from Megan, or any Scientist for that matter, they would have torn the impudent mutants to shreds.

The commotion had brought Leyane out in time to see Luke and Nathan carefully walking down the steep ramp with the half-blind kids' treasure. Nathan led the way and carefully felt the ground with his feet since he was walking backwards down the ramp with Luke telling him where to turn.

Megan, Leyane, and the Erasers stared as the un-winged bird kids carried the bulky box into the house and up the stairs with all the care a mother elephant showed her new baby.

the Institute of Living Science hospital was located deep n New York city, another of the BioTech branches that Itex seemed fond of in America. The boys had been weighed, measured and had a great many other things checked that would be expected in a normal appointment along with taking blood samples "since their medical records have not been received yet."

The boys had been sent to the waiting room while Doctor Yaker talked alone with their mother in his private office. They were being given a little respite before the next doctors arrived to check on how well Nathan and Luke could see.

The boys were occupying themselves between doctors and physical checkups with a children's card game. The brightly colored monsters and pictures attracted Megan's attention and despite her contempt for the way these freaks were treated as humans she was drawn to them.

Each boy had his own deck of cards with five or six cards face down to the side on their side of the little Lego table and two stacks of cards either face up or face down with a little row of face up cards directly in front of them and two cards each in the middle of the table.

Each boy held cards of varying types in their hands and played them with evident skill. Each monster had a short list of attacks with little colored symbols matching the colored cards placed underneath them and each monsters attack was accompanied by a number. For Example a little powder puff of a pink monster had an attack called pound with a damage of ten. Not the strongest thing around apparently seeing how ineffective it was against the little purple and yellow snake Luke was attacking it with.

Megan sat near Luke and looked down on the little game. Cards were attached to the monsters with colored spheres and a symbol and at the end of each turn, or attack if one of the little plastic coins had to be flipped. Red, green, and purple glass beads were used on the active card to indicate damage, strangely though there were only a few of the red and green beads and only one each were put on a single card at any time.

"What game is this?"

Nathan looked up as he put the little cream-puff into what had to be the discard pile and Luke claimed one of his three remaining face down cards.

"Pokémon."

Megan frowned. That game was quite popular everywhere. There was more than one movie and the whole thing seemed to multiply and grow like an amoeba with no signs of stopping anytime soon as new additions were made to keep the interest of each new wave of children. Megan watched the game with bored interest and over the next three games, most of which Luke won, and learned a little more about their personalities.

Like most card games this Pokémon game did require a little bit of strategy and reports from the psychologists showed a link between personality traits and how games of strategy are played. Even if these boys weren't collected right away The Institute would be able to test these little gems in innocent enough ways until it was discovered how the boys hadn't developed wings. But that was beside the point at the moment, for now the bounty hunter would watch and learn.

Luke put out weak creatures, resulting in early victories for Nathan, and strengthened his monsters that weren't active. Once stronger, the easily angered child took the creatures from the 'bench' and put them on the field where he proceeded to overpower his brother with brute strength. Megan would have to dig out those psychology reports but if she remembered correctly this indicated Aggression, impatience and a desire for power with a touch of foresight. Not that Megan knew that much about history but Luke seemed like a regular Napoleon here.

Nathan's strategy seemed to be more balanced as far as powering his creatures, keeping them more or less healthy, and using 'Trainer' cards. He tended to afflict his brothers little monsters with lingering effects like confusion, poisoning, and burns to steadily eat away at their health and used the special abilities of his card monsters to his advantage, at one point putting Luke's evolved snake to sleep with Long Range Hypnosis.

The slow yet steady chipping away at health and the patience Nathan showed to get where he wanted to go was most likely due to a rather submissive nature and lack of confidence. Again those reports would have to be consulted.

Their mother hurried from Dr. Yakers office and hurried over to her two dueling sons in a state of obvious agitation. She glared at Megan is if she were some kind of plague and sat down nearest Nathan.

"Are you two hungry? I think I was a McDonald's not too far from here. I'm sure the doctors wouldn't mind waiting. Lord knows how irritable you can get when you're hungry Luke..."

Luke snickered and nodded his head. The boys abandoned their game and everything; damage counters, cards, and the coins disappeared inside little chipboard boxes in record time.


	11. Half blind and fine

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia  
Chapter 11-Half blind and fine

--

Leyane smiled down at her sons. Each had downed two whoppers easily and shared close to ten sodas with no sign of slowing down. Her sons could really pack the food away and more than once a Social Worker had come over with a suspicion of undernourishment for the kids' weights.

The first time that had happened the woman had had Luke and Nathan sent somewhere beyond her reach for observation. They'd been returned not much later by the same constipated woman with a look of abject disgust and a great many things to say about the boy's lack of table manners.

More observation in the house and many probing conversations revealed that there was in fact no abuse going on. Her sons were always a bit under weight though firmly fleshed and easily ate their weight in one sitting.

She could only guess that what made her sons weigh so little had something to do with why they'd been hunted down for as long as she could remember reliably. And now she'd be finding out whither she wanted to or not.

For the first time in her life she understood the old story of Damocles who had taken a peasant into his castle and told his servants to tie a great big sword to the ceiling with a hair from one of his many horses' long tails. The king then told the peasant to enjoy a meal meticulously prepared by the royal chiefs.

The peasant however couldn't focus on the meal. His attention was firmly fixed on that sword and its slender thread. And then the king said.

"This is what it's like to be king. Remember this whenever you feel that I suffer no pain."

However her story held no swords, no peasants, and no kings. Her doom was her sons. They were unaware that they were in danger. And the threat of that danger and of loosing them was killing her inside with rotting worry and strain. It had been made quite plain that as soon as either her sons wings came in or they realized that they weren't human, she'd loose them. That was the price she'd have to pay for making good on her dearly departed friends escape plans.

And she'd have to cooperate if she wanted to spend even one more minute with her beloved sons. Something about an Outbound Project made them valuable enough for observation.

But for now Luke was happily absorbed in his game and Nathan was going to get his vision checked. Normally she'd never wish Nathan's little phobia of eye drops on anyone, but right now she wanted these pricks to know she wasn't intimidated even it that meant letting her sons rampage a bit.

Nathan was leaning forward in the hard plastic chair and kicking his feet while the doctor made notes on the file he was creating on the boy. So far his vision had been tested with and without glasses. The boy tested at a sluggish 20/80 without his glasses and with the correction afforded by his unusual prescription tested into 20/50

However the Panamanian doctor had noticed the little genetic freak reading what he'd been writing over his shoulder and mouthing some of the larger words. He was either playing the doctor-and therefore Itex-for fools- or he'd been instructed by his mother to hide his true talents. Either way there was one or two more things to do with this boy...

the Optometrist plastered a smile and turned to face the scrawny Ryo child. And bared his teeth in a skull-like smile, the thing was playing with his instruments... Again.

"Nathan please don't play with those. They're not toys... "

The little Mutant turned around in the uncomfortable chair, sat on his hands and tried to act innocent, just like all kids his age caught doing something they're not suppose to be doing…


	12. And the Doctor said

Twin Terror Nathan Ryo written by Geia Akyama  
Chapter 12-And the Doctor said...

--

The Itex Optometrist shook his little bottle with the Eye drops that would dilate the little mutants' pupils and turned to face his patient. The little brat was staring at the ceiling and seemed to be counting the tiles in the room, though his eyes darted and jumped far too much for a normal person. Perhaps there was something to that Nystagmus of his...

"Alright Nathan? I need you to pay attention for a little while longer."

" Mmmm... Okay!"

The boy looked the adult in the eye and smiled in that infuriatingly childish way of a person who swa the world through rose colored glasses. The innocence, the tenderness, the immature belief that the world was fair. Everything that led to children killing others by imitating what they saw on the television was summed up in that perversely joyous expression and those words.

Surely this experiment would be a loss like that other one, OP-32? It had been pampered like an honored pet by a psychology disturbed mother who didn't realize that her daughter was an Eraser. Thankfully that proved a disgrace and no more Erasers would ever be mothered again. The subjects proved to empathic toward their prey and refused to injure or kill even the weakest of the Hybrids created.

Well this ones fascination with the ceiling would prove useful. The eye drops would be administered quickly and before it could struggle.

Nathan smiled briefly. the imaginary chess piece he was using to touch every tile on the ceiling had just captured half of the florescent light and was making it's way to some kind of ceiling vent. He loved that game, Chess; it was one of the few games where he could beat his brother every time. That and Janga. Maybe it was because he learned to see and feel for what might happen that made him good at strategy games for the most part. Or maybe because he had more patience. Or maybe...

--

Nathan's smiled faltered when something came into his field of view from the left and blotted out part of the ceiling. At the same time a stinging liquid spread across his left eye and made him close both out of pure reflex. It stung and burned a bit like lemon juice or those eye drops he'd had to suffer through when a sunflower seed had scratched his eye, cornea? Eye drops... oh heck no!

--

the doctor muttered a soothing nothing to the kid as he jerked away from the eyedropper and the ceiling. Like most kids he didn't like this part. Nor would he appreciate how this would make the next step easier for the poor shmuck that would be taking a picture of his Retina. Kids... they didn't appreciate much at all with their computers and portable CD players...

Lost in his thoughts, expectations and assumptions of today's youths, the whitecoat didn't notice until too late that this patient was not at all inclined to cooperate and had the means to be truly defiant.

It took a good few moments for him to realize that the kid had even moved much less stood up. The little dropper flew into the opposite corner, his back smashed into a wall covered with a colored diagram of the inside of the eye and the kid took up a stance fitting a ninja.

--

No eye drops, no tests, no more lights! He didn't like these appointments anymore, he didn't want them! Doctors always poking at his eyes, at him! He was just like everyone else granted thinner and lighter but that didn't matter!

Nate balled up his hand and let this guy have it right in the shoulder followed by an open-palmed thrust in his chest. Where had Mom gone? Why wasn't she here? she'd've told him about the drops!

His little pretend fighting sessions with his brother were paying off. Nathan wasn't going to let this guy do anything else!


End file.
